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Milwaukee Bucks: Can they improve their efficiency on wide-open 3-pointers?

By Jordan Treske

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - JANUARY 31: Brook Lopez #11 of the Milwaukee Bucks attempts a shot in the first quarter against the Denver Nuggets at the Fiserv Forum on January 31, 2020 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - JANUARY 31: Brook Lopez #11 of the Milwaukee Bucks attempts a shot in the first quarter against the Denver Nuggets at the Fiserv Forum on January 31, 2020 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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For the second straight season, the Milwaukee Bucks have generated a high volume of wide open 3-point attempts. But why does their efficiency on such shots continue to lag behind?

Since the arrival of head coach Mike Budenholzer, the 3-point shot has been key to the Milwaukee Bucks’ offensive formula and overall gameplan.

The Bucks didn’t just enter the modern NBA offensively with Budenholzer leading the charge on the bench, but they have been one of the most 3-point happy teams in the league and that’s certainly been true this 2019-20 season.

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Of course, it’s one thing to meet the criteria of being successful in today’s NBA by taking a high volume of 3-point shots on a nightly basis, but it’s another to do so and unlock the foundation of talent the Bucks had been building prior to his arrival.

And it’s from that standpoint that the Bucks’ high caliber of talent has collectively been able to create high-percentage 3-point attempts throughout the season to this point.

The Bucks lead the league in generating 21.6 3-point attempts per game that are deemed wide-open (nearest defender is six-plus feet away) this season, per NBA.com/stats. That’s slightly down from the 21.8 wide open 3-point attempts per game they took throughout the 2018-19 season, which stood second in the NBA behind the Atlanta Hawks.

Not only that, but the Bucks stand second in the NBA behind the Toronto Raptors in making 429 wide-open 3-pointers.

With such a high level of execution, the Bucks have been able to marry the new-age efficiency that Budenholzer’s system gives with the wide-ranging skill set of their superstar creator in Giannis Antetokounmpo on down to the likes of Khris Middleton, Eric Bledsoe and George Hill.

While this is all well and good and being able to create as many wide open 3-point looks as the Bucks have done for the second straight season has been crucial to their overall spacing, their efficiency on such shots is a different story entirely.

The Bucks are hitting their wide-open 3-point looks at a 36.7 percent clip this season, good for 26th in the NBA. That’s slightly up from the 36.4 percent they tallied on those same type of shots, which ranks 27th in the league. For context, the league average of hitting wide-open 3-pointers this season is 38.2 percent, leaving the Bucks coming in well below that mark obviously.

Delve into why that is and you start to get a better picture behind why the Bucks have struggled to hit the league average and raise their already high offensive potency even further.

For one, it’s Antetokounmpo, the Bucks player whose gravity is regularly able to create high-percentage looks for himself or for teammates, that leads the Bucks in this department and he’s knocking down 32 percent of his 194 wide-open 3-point attempts. That’s up from the 26.1 percent clip he compiled last season, giving us another example of the steady progress he’s made with his jump shot from long distance.

Following Antetokounmpo is big man Brook Lopez and his season-long struggles from downtown have been informed by his prolonged misfiring on wide-open 3-point looks, given that he’s 55-for-187 on such attempts this season (29.4 percent).

Despite the struggles of both Antetokounmpo and Lopez, the Bucks’ more proficient shooters, such as Hill, Middleton, Kyle Korver and Wesley Matthews have all propped up the Bucks’ ability to make unguarded 3-pointers throughout the season.

Of course, not all 3-point shots are created equally and the same goes from where they are taken on the floor. Both of those reasons stand as big explanations for why the Bucks may stand well behind like minded 3-point happy teams around the league.

At the same time, the Bucks have shown themselves to be in the volume business when it comes to taking and making threes and it’s helped them in all facets of how the offense operates, beyond just hitting shots obviously.

The big gamble is whether the Bucks can raise their efficiency throughout the postseason, especially when defenses really dig in and try to wall off the paint and make life tougher for Antetokounmpo to do his usual damage. That certainly played an element in the Bucks’ downfall last postseason where they hit 32.9 percent of their 140 wide-open 3-pointers during the Conference Finals against the Toronto Raptors.

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The Bucks have certainly showed a little more variety in their offensive offerings in light of the bitter end to their season last year. But it remains to be seen whether they can avoid the same pitfalls like their long range shooting struggles on unguarded looks that will be vital under the highest of pressure.

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